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“If you say so,” she returns. “But I think as soon as you find out who I am—and who he is—you’re never going to bother seeing me again.”

Is it weird I’m slightly offended? I don’t care if her dad is King Kong. She’s too intriguing and fun to never see again. I’m gonna⁠—

“Jules?”

A gravelly voice speaks behind me, and I don’t have to turn around to see who it is. My muscles tense, and I instinctively take a step back from Juliet.

“Hi, Dad,” she says.

In an instant, she walks toward Mayor Noah Monroe, her arms around his neck as he wraps his around her back, lifting her in the warmest, fatherly embrace I’ve ever seen.

I stand back, shoving my hands in my pockets. I’m not intimidated by the mayor. Not anymore. But personal experience has taught me to be cautious around him.

“What in the world are you doing here, honey?” Mayor Monroe asks, lowering Juliet to the ground.

“Surprising you, of course,” she says, straightening her shirt with her attention still on her dad.

Her dad. I can’t believe I missed the signs. The mayor is well known around town, especially by me. Everyone knows of his marital status, his service as sheriff, and the fact that he only has one daughter, but I could’ve sworn that daughter was younger. Then again, it has been six years since I moved here, so of course she’d be older, too.

“You didn’t think I’d miss your birthday party, did you?” Juliet says.

“Oh, don’t remind me,” the mayor replies. “I told Lisa to drop it, but she’s insisting on making it a whole big thing. We’re talking black tie, fancy dinner, everything.”

“As it should be. It’s not every day a beloved mayor turns fifty.”

“Beloved. You’re as charming as your old man.” He pulls her in for a side hug and kisses her brow. She wrinkles her nose when his graying beard tickles her temple.

I feel like I’m imposing on a deeply personal moment, but I can’t do anything about it. If only I didn’t have her stuff in the back of my truck. Mayor Monroe’s eagle-eyed gaze will home in on me if I so much as breathe deeper, and our skirmish will resume, just like always.

We got off on the wrong foot when I first moved here, and he and I have been in a silent—and sometimes not-so-silent—battle of wills ever since.

“So are you here for just the weekend?” the mayor asks.

“Well, that’s the other surprise.” Juliet pauses. “I’m actually going to take a gap semester.”

“The whole semester?”

I catch her hesitance, but she recovers with a quick nod. “That’s the plan!”

Her voice is slightly higher than normal. She’d said the same words to me when I’d asked her about her graduation, “the plan.”

She’s obviously hiding something, and it surprises me how badly I want to know what it is.

“You’re sure that’s what you want to do?” the mayor asks.

“A hundred percent. I can’t miss your birthday again or the Fall Festival. I need me some good Autumn Ridge time and some good father-daughter time. If you’re okay with that?”

Mayor Monroe beams. “I’m more than okay with that, honey.”

Then his eyes move to mine.

Silence fills the space between us, and just like his expression, the warm, September air turns as cold as a Vermont winter morning.

Archer

“Oh, Dad,” Juliet says, motioning toward me. “You know Archer Kade. He gave me a ride into town when my car broke down.”

The mayor’s eyes shift back to Juliet’s. “I didn’t know you had a car.”